Shelter arrangement for self-contained loading and unloading devices on ships, vehicles, buildings and like movable or stationary structures



Oct. 3, 1967 H. KUMMERMAN SHELTER ARRANGEMENT FOR SELF-CONTAINED LOADING AND UNLOADING DEVICES ON SHIP, VEHICLES, BUILDINGS AND LIKE MOVABLE OR STATIONARY STRUCTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec 1-.--ilkdhriili-1111 -llilix. 72- -1-5 llliillitlmiit 1 l Il|| /NVENTOR HENRI K UM MERMAN Oct. 3, 1967 H. KUMMERMAN 3,344,937

SHELTER ARRANGEMENT FOR SELF-CONTAINED LOADING AND UNLOADING DEVICES 0N SHIPS, VEHICLES, BUILDINGS AND LIKE MOVABLE 0R STATIONARY STRUCTURES Original Filed Dec. 18, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 &\,715 HENR I lax/$23M L L m 912% L United States Patent 005cc 3,344,937 SHELTER ARRANGEMENT FOR SELF-CON- TAINED LOADING AND UNLOADING DE- VICES N SHIPS, VEHICLES, BUILDINGS A N I) LIKE MOVABLE OR STATIONARY STRUCTURES Henri Kurnmerman, Paris, France, assignor to Mac- Gregor-Comarain, Paris, France, a body corporate of France Original application Dec. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 419,351, new Patent No. 3,317,058, dated May 2, 1967. Divided and this application Oct. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 585,360 Claims priority, application France, Dec. 19, 1963, 957,834; Oct. 2, 1964, 990,241 19 Claims. (Cl. 214) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ship comprising a castle, self-contained overhead travelling cranemeans having rolling athwartship bridge means movable on and spanning substantially horizontal elevated tracks, spaced from and extending outside above and longitudinally of the weather deck of said ship and supported by spaced deck-mounted posts, a tunnel-like shelter and storage compartment in and lengthwise of a tweendeck space of said castle for accommodating said crane means therein and opening at at least one end towards said weather deck with inner runways extending along said compartment in aligned meeting relation to said outside tracks.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 419,351, filed Dec. 18, 1964, now Patent No. 3,317,058.

The present invention relates essentially to a loading and unloading appliance of the gantry or overhead travelling crane type on vehicles and stationary plants and more particularly on ships comprising for example at least one rolling bridge, with a telescoping boom and a hoisting trolley movable along the bridge or gantry and the telescoping boom, and supported by external continuous elevated tracks or runways extending throughout the useful length of the weather deck of the ship, or in any other manner.

It is the essential object of the present invention to provide a shelter for receiving and stowing the aforesaid cranes or gantries when they are inoperative.

The device according to the present invention is characterized in that the ships superstructure or castle comprises at least one storage compartment for sheltering said rolling gantries or travelling cran when the vessel is out at sea, said compartment consisting preferably of a tweendeck space provided in said castle and opening at at least one of its longitudinal ends towards the weather deck of the ship and being provided with inner runways for said cranes or gantries, said runways being substantially in direct and contiguous alignment with the external longitudinal service runways.

Other features and advantages of this invention will appear as the following description proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings showing diagrammatically various forms of embodiment thereof:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing a ship provided with a rear castle formed with a shelter arrangement for the loading and unloading device of the type set forth hereinabove according to this invention, the side wall of the castle being broken away to show the shelter space therein;

FIGURE 2 is a similar view showing a vessel with a central castle, provided with a shelter arrangement for said loading and unloading appliance, according to this 3,344,937 Patented Oct. 3, 1967 invention, the side wall of the castle being likewise broken away to show the shelter space therein;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken upon the line IIIIII of FIGURE 1, showing the open end face of the shelter-forming compartment; FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, showing the end face of the shelter-forming compartment closed by curtains; and FIGURE 5 is a cross-section taken upon the line VV of FIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to the specific form of embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1, the reference numeral 701 designates a ship equipped with a rear superstructure or castle 702 overlying substantially the engine room 703. This vessel comprises a series of separate holds such as 704 to which access can be had through corresponding hatchways provided in the weather deck 705 of the ship. Masts or posts 706 disposed by pairs and emerging from the weather deck on either side thereof carry continuous longitudinal runways 707 extending throughout the useful length of said weather deck and on these runways a plurality of rolling gantries or travelling cranes 708, for example four in number in the example illustrated, are adapted to roll.

The rear castle 702 comprises a house or compartment 709 for sheltering the series of gantries or cranes stowed close to each other. To this end, this compartment 709 has a corresponding aperture 710 on its front face towards the weather deck 705 and is equipped on both sides with a pair of internal longitudinal runways 711 constituting the direct extensions of the external runways 707 so that the gantries or cranes 708 may roll directly into their shelter 709.

This shelter 709 comprises advantageously a transverse aperture having a configuration corresponding to the vertical outline or gauge of said gantries or cranes 708 (see FIGURE 3). To this end, the height of the tweendeck space constituting the compartment 709 will for example .be about 13 feet (4 meters) and this space will advantageously comprise at a suitable location a longitudinal cavity 712 of a depth of for example about 6 /2 feet (2 meters) constituting a kind of pit for receiving the control cabs 713 of the gantries or cranes.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the application of the device of this invention to a vessel 701a provided with a central or intermediate castle 702k and comprising under these conditions two weather decks, a fore-deck 705a and a reardeck 70511 from which access can be had to the fore and aft holds 704a and 70417 respectively. The rear weather deck 705a is also equipped with elevated runways 707 carried by masts or posts 706. The shelter-forming compartment 7 09a extends in this case throughout the length of the castle 70211 and is open at both ends, respecively fore 710a and aft 710b, so that the internal runways 711 extend throughout this compartment to interconnect the fore-and-aft external runways 7 07 In either case each front or rear transverse aperture may be closed by a movable device such as a curtain or shutter 714 as shown in FIGURE 4. These curtains may be for example of the flexible corrugated sheet type guided in slideways or suspended by means of rollers on rails and adapted to be wound on a drum. For the sake of convenience, the arrangement may comprise an upper curtain 714a and a lower curtain 714b consisting each one of two half-curtains movable horizontally athwartship and adapted to be wound on vertical drums and to be joined together centrally of the front aperture or to be moved apart to their open position on either side of said aperture.

In either case, that is, whether the vessel is equipped with a rear castle or with a central castle, it is advantageous that the upper portion of the casing or fidley 715 of the engine room 703 projects somewhat into the shelterforming compartment 709 or 709a so that the hoisting equipment of the gantries or cranes may penetrate through said casing or fidley into the engine room. This communication is illustrated in FIGURE 5. The casing 715 communicates through a passage or lobby 716 with the pit 712 to permit the movement of translation of the hoisting trolley truck or crab 717 with the machine part or engine suspended from the hoisting hook in the direction of said pit, so that this part or engine may be transferred to the outside during the movement of the corresponding gantry or crane 708, for inspection, maintenance, overhaul, repair or replacement purposes.

In FIGURES 1 and 2 the gantries or cranes are shown in solid lines in their shelter position inside the compartment 709 or 709a. The broken or dashed lines 708' of FIGURE 1 show a rolling gantry or bridge crane in its operative position above a fore hold, and FIGURE 2 shows also in broken lines or phantom view at 7G8" another gantry or crane in its operative position above an aft hold.

Of course, this invention should not be construed as being limited by the specific forms of embodiment described and illustrated herein which are given by way of example only and to which many modifications and variations may be brought without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a ship provided with at least one castle and with at least one self contained overhead travelling crane consisting of a rolling athwartship bridge movable on and spanning substantially horizontal elevated tracks spaced from and extending outside above and longitudinally of the weather deck of said ship and supported by spaced deck-mounted posts, at least one tunnel-like shelter and stowage compartment at least the side, top and bottom walls of which are weather-proof and which is provided in a tweendeck space of said castle longitudinally thereof for accommodating and fully housing and covering all said cranes therein, whereby said cranes are entirely surrounded at least by the lengthwise extending walls of said compartment, said compartment opening at at least one longitudinal end towards said weather deck and having inner runways extending along said compartment in registering contiguous relationship with said elevated tracks.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said ship has a central castle dividing said weather deck in a fore and aft deck portion and wherein said compartment extends throughout said castle and opens at both ends towards said fore and aft deck portions respectively, said inner runways interconnecting said elevated tracks on said fore and aft deck portions.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said compartment has an athwartship cross-sectional contour substantially conforming to the vertical apparent outline of said crane.

4. An arrangement according to claim 3, wherein said compartment directly communicates with the fidley of the ships engineroom, said fidley opening into said compartment through the bottom thereof.

5. An arrangement according to claim 1, comprising weather-tight closure means for each open end of said compartment.

6. An arrangement according to claim 5, wherein said compartment has an athwartship cross-sectional contour substantially conforming to the vertical apparent outline of said crane.

7. An arrangement according to claim 6, wherein said compartment directly communicates with the fidley of the ships engineroom, said fidley opening into said compartment through the bottom thereof.

8. An arrangement according to claim 2, wherein said compartment has an athwartship cross-sectional contour substantially conforming to the vertical apparent outline of said crane and directly communicating with the fidley of the ships engineroom, said fidley opening into said compartment through the bottom thereof and communicating through substantially horizontal passageway means with at least one end opening of said compartment, said passageway means extending below said crane and having cross-sectional size large enough to freely accommodate a crane-borne load to be carried therealong and wherein said arrangement further comprises weather-tight closure means for each open end of said compartment, said closure means comprising coilable flexible curtain means of corrugated sheet material, slidably mounted on guide rails and comprising an upper curtain and a lower curtain movable horizontally in opposite directions at least athwart-ship while leaving a gap therebetween for the passage of said tracks and windable on substantially vertical drums, respectively, each curtain comprising two half-curtains adapted to meet together centrally of the open end of said compartment in the closed position and to be moved away from each other towards either side of said open end, respectively.

9. An arrangement according to claim 5, wherein said closure means comprise coilable flexible curtain means of corrugated sheet material, guide rails for slidably mounting the latter and drum means for winding up and unwinding said curtain means.

10. An arrangement according to claim 9, wherein said curtain means for said compartment comprise an upper curtain and a lower curtain movable horizontally in opposite directions at least athWartship while leaving a gap therebetween and said drum means comprise substantially vertical drums.

11. An arrangement according to claim 10, wherein each curtain comprises two half-curtains adapted to meet together centrally of the open end of said compartment in the closed position and to be moved away from each other towards either side of said open end, respectively.

12. An arrangement according to claim 4, wherein said fidley opening communicates through substantially horizontal passageway means with at least one end opening of said compartment, said passageway means extending underneath said crane and having a cross-sectional size large enough to freely accommodate a crane-borne load to be carried therealong.

13. An arrangement according to claim 1, including closure means for said compartment and wherein said closure means comprise coilable flexible curtain means of corrugated sheet material, guide rails for slidably mounting the latter and drum means for winding up and unwinding said curtain means.

14. An arrangement according to claim 13, wherein said curtain means for said compartment comprise an upper curtain and a lower curtain movable horizontally in opposite directions at least athwartship while leaving a gap therebetween and said closure means comprise substantially vertical drums.

15. An arrangement according to claim 14, wherein each curtain comprises two half-curtains adapted to meet together centrally of the open end of said compartment in the closed position and to be moved away from each other towards either side of said open end, respectively.

16. An arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said fidley opening communicates through substantially horizontal passageway means with at least one end opening of said compartment, said passageway means extending underneath the crane in said compartment and having a cross-sectional size large enough to freely accommodate a crane-borne load to be carried therealong.

17. An arrangement according to claim 7, including closure means for said compartment and wherein said closure means comprises coilable flexible curtain means of corrugated sheet material, guide rails for slidably mounting the latter and drum means for winding up and unwinding said curtain means.

18. An arrangement according to claim 17, wherein References Cited said curtain means comprise an upper curtain and a lower UNITED STATES PATENTS curtain movable horizontally in opposite directions at least athwartship while leaving a gap therebetween and 733257 7/1903 Neefdham 212 10 2,555,297 5/1951 Srnlth et a1. 214-15 said drum means cornpnse substantially vertical drums. 5 3 f l 19. An arrangement according to claim 18, wherein 2,89 ,574 7/1959 Bane e d 214*15 each curtain comprises two half-curtains adapted to meet FOREIGN PATENTS together centrally of the open end of said compartment in the closed position and to be moved away from each 665844 7/1963 Canada other towards either side of said open end, respectively. 10 ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A SHIP PROVIDED WITH AT LEAST ONE CASTLE AND WITH AT LEAST ONE SELF CONTAINED OVERHEAD TRAVELLING CRANE CONSISTING OF A ROLLING ATHWARTSHIP BRIDGE MOVABLE ON AND SPANNING SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL ELEVATED TRACKS SPACED FROM AND EXTENDING OUTSIDE ABOVE AND LONGITUDINALLY OF THE WEATHER DECK OF SAID SHIP AND SUPPORTED BY SPACED DECK-MOUNTED POSTS, AT LEAST ONE TUNNEL-LIKE SHELTER AND STOWAGE COMPARTMENT AT LEAST THE SIDE, TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS OF WHICH ARE WEATHER-PROOF AND WHICH IS PROVIDED IN A ''TWEENDECK SPACE OF SAID CASTLE LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF FOR ACCOMMODATING AND FULLY HOUSING AND COVERING ALL SAID CRANES THEREIN, WHEREBY SAID CRANES ARE ENTIRELY SURROUNDED AT LEAST BY THE LENGTHWISE EXTENDING WALLS OF SAID COMPARTMENT, SAID COMPARTMENT OPENING AT AT LEAST ONE LONGITUDINAL END TOWARDS SAID WEATHER DECK AND HAVING INNER RUNWAYS EXTENDING ALONG SAID COMPARTMENT IN REGISTERING CONTIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID ELEVATED TRACKS. 